Reading stories in both the Old and New Testaments where God speaks to His creation through dreams is surely awe-inspiring. What a wonderful way for God to speak to His people and followers! But if you’ve never had this happen personally to you, you might think this is only something that God did over a millennia ago.
The truth is, God still uses dreams to communicate with His creation; however, there is less of it in the western church reported. Why? Because believers in Western countries already have access to God and His message through churches, the Bible, and open access to other believers.
God uses dreams today as a revelation to those who specifically might not have another avenue in their life to encounter Him, like those in Islamic countries, China, India, or other unreached areas of the world.
In fact, dreams or visions are an almost common way for God to reveal Himself to Muslims and call them into a true relationship with them, especially with Muslims who live in closed Islamic countries.
What is the difference between a dream and a vision?
Based on hundreds of stories we have encountered over decades of ministry among Muslims and based on what the Bible teaches, these are the differences between visions and dreams.
Visions happen while you are awake, you usually see something or someone in front of your eyes, or you hear a voice. For Muslims who had visions of Jesus, they often see the room filled with light, they see Jesus in their room, or they even see a hand reaching out for them from the sky. They feel warmth, love and so much joy. Many times, they hear an audible deep loving voice or they hear a voice inside them. The vision lasts for minutes or sometimes longer, and when it ends they recognize that they had an encounter with the Divine God they will never forget.
In Acts 10:9-16, we see Peter’s vision of the animals, both clean and unclean, descending before him and God telling him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”
A dream from God takes place when we are asleep, yet we wake up remembering many details of what happened as if it is a lived memory. God uses dreams throughout the Bible with countless people, including Joseph, Abraham, Daniel, and Joseph (Jesus’ earthly father).
In both cases, a dream or a vision, this is often a life-changing experience to most Muslims and they truly believe that God, the Creator, is speaking to them.
“Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream.” Numbers 12:6
Why do Muslims see dreams of Jesus?
Muslims worship Allah, who is aloof, distant, and demanding. They believe they only have one literal second each year to encounter Allah during the Night of Power.
They also believe that if Allah wants to talk to them directly, He will do it through dreams. In fact, in folk Islam, which is a particularly superstitious subset of beliefs that many Muslims follow, there is an entire system of guidelines for interpreting dreams from Allah. They even have specific dream interpreters whose entire job is interpreting Allah’s messages in the dreams.
So Muslims are already primed to see the importance behind a revelatory dream from God… but they are often surprised by who shows up.
When Jesus appears to a Muslim in a dream, they do not always recognize that He is the one they claim is prophet Isa (Jesus). But through decades of ministry, we have seen that there are things in common with most dream encounters Muslims have with Jesus:
Jesus is wearing a white robe
He has brown shoulder-length hair, light brown locks
His eyes are deep and filled with love
He has wound marks in his wrists, where the nails would’ve pierced between the two bones in his lower forearms
His entire presence fills the space with warmth and light they cannot comprehend
Jesus often quotes verses from the Bible that He said when He was on earth. Most commonly we hear of Jesus saying one of these three verses to Muslims in dreams:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6
“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26
Often during the dream, the Muslim suddenly understands that Jesus Christ is not just a prophet. They realize that Jesus is God Himself, Jesus must be worshipped, and He is the only one who can save them from their misery and sins.
Once a Muslim wakes up from meeting Jesus in a dream, they are usually ready to believe and surrender their life to Christ, or they begin their journey to discover who Jesus truly is because they are drawn to His overwhelming love.
Do Muslim-background believers see Jesus in dreams?
God does not only use dreams or visions to help reach those who might not otherwise hear the Good News – He also appears to new believers, especially new Muslim converts, to confirm their belief and faith in Him and help them during harsh persecution.
Many Muslim background believers report they have seen Jesus in their dreams during harsh persecution, comforting them and crying alongside them. Sometimes they even see the image of Jesus on the cross and how much He suffered for them to empower them to walk the journey and carry their own cross.
These dreams become milestones in the lives of converts and they always remember them and recount them.
Stories of Muslims and converts seeing Jesus in dreams
Ammar learned first that Jesus was coming back through a dream
Ammar accepted Christ when he was 16 years old in Yemen with our contact center of Glory TV. He was so passionate about his new faith that a few days after accepting Christ he shared it with a friend at school. He immediately faced harsh backlash and persecution and that led him to doubt his decision to follow Jesus.
That night, Ammar fell asleep while praying and asking Jesus, “Did I make a mistake or are you the true God?”
That night, Jesus appeared to Ammar in a dream riding on a white horse and saying, “Wait for me, Ammar. Keep holding on to your faith. I am coming back soon!”
Ammar woke up with renewed hope, and he messaged Glory TV’s contact center, asking, “Is it true? Is Jesus coming back, and will He come on a white horse?” Sure enough, his contact sent him the Bible verses quoting Jesus saying that He was returning for His church soon.
Malik met Jesus regularly in dreams starting at 5 years old
Malik is a young Iraqi boy who was able to secretly watch The Jesus Film on Glory TV when he was 8 years old. He saw Jesus and said to himself, “That’s the man from my dreams!”
In fact, Malik had met Jesus in a dream when he was only 5 years old, and Jesus had repeatedly come to him to establish a relationship, even before Malik knew who He was. Before Malik even saw the Jesus Film, he was already in love with the comforting and bright presence of Christ.
You can read more stories about God revealing Himself to Muslims in dreams in this article too: Jesus appeared in a dream: True stories and interpreting what this means for you
As Christians, let's cover the Muslim world in prayers for the love of Christ to continue to reach the lost, whether through relationships with Christians or through divine revelations in dreams.
Prayer for Muslims who need to hear the gospel
Dear Lord, thank you for loving us so much that You reveal Yourself to many through visions and dreams. Please empower the persecuted Church in the Muslim World and give courage to many today to decide to follow you. Amen.
